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Yesterday, I wrote what I thought was a private letter to my friend New York Governor Andrew Cuomo about changing the state beverage from cow's milk to almond, rice or soy milk. The press got wind of it and news of the letter, assumingly leaked by my friends at PETA, is everywhere. I should say I'm not upset about that, just surprised, and do think that it’s a good opportunity to share with you why I felt the need to send that letter in the first place and allow you to read the entire text from the letter itself.

I made a conscious effort to leave out the main reason I personally abstain from drinking milk (or consume any meat/dairy products), which is the effect that industry has on the Earth and on the animals it tortures. Instead, I focused on the reasons why many people stop drinking milk which most of the time is for the benefit of their health. The truth is, eating meat and dairy is linked to heart disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes, and even impotence.

With the health problems that dairy causes known, I also think it is important that we engage in a conversation about what affect the slaughtering of more than 27 billion animals for food has on our planet. Most people still believe that the largest contributor to global warming is cars or factories or planes, etc. but that’s incorrect … it’s cows - raised for what else? Food. And what causes the change in our climate? It is the gas that the cows emit from their back-sides, methane, which is depleting our ozone layer. A recent United Nations report concluded that a global shift toward more of a vegan diet is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change. Cows account for more harm to our environment, than all of the cars, trucks and trains around the world combined. The chances of curing World hunger, the destruction of the Amazon Rain Forest and the Earth's dwindling water supply are all being destroyed by factory farming. Albert Einstein said famously, "Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."

And then there is my own personal reason for not drinking milk or supporting eating animals at all: compassion.

Many people don't understand that humans aren't meant to drink milk. Cows produce milk to feed their offspring just like human breast milk. In order to force cows unnaturally continue giving milk for humans, factory farm operators typically impregnate them using artificial insemination year after tortuous year. After their baby calves are taken from them, mother cows are hooked up, several times a day, to milking machines. Using genetic manipulation, powerful hormones (which cause cancer), and intensive milking, factory farmers force cows to produce about 10 times as much milk as they would naturally. A cow's natural lifespan is about 25 years, but cows used by the dairy industry are killed after only four or five years. Even die hard meat eaters often say, "Well, I wouldn't eat veal! " because most people are aware of the cruelty involved with baby calves. What most don't know is that dairy is directly linked to the milk they are tossing into their morning java. Watch the video of a typical day in the life of a dairy cow on a factory farm. Leave a comment, I would love to read them.

You may not want believe it when you hear the slogans like "Milk Does a Body Good," but when you research the facts you will clearly see that physically, karmically and ecologically the alternatives of almond, rice and soy are the only proper choices.

In my opinion, tens of billions of innocent animals that are born into suffering and then slaughtered is the worst karmic disaster of our time. If changing New York's beverage of choice to another alternative is possible, the time to do that is now.

Beef-eating is portrayed in the U.S. almost as a patriotic endeavor. Our favorite sports heroes - from Michael Jordan to Drew Bledsoe - are featured in McDonalds ads and toys. We are literally bombarded with ads for McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy's. But there is something very odd about all this. There are hints (or front page headlines) telling us that there is something wrong with all this beef consumption.

In fact, a quick study of the issues surrounding beef consumption finds some very disturbing facts:

1. Beef contains significant quantities of the most toxic organic chemical known - dioxin. This chemical is toxic in the trillionths of grams. (A trillionth of a gram, called a picogram, is one million millionth of a gram. A gram is about 1/30th of an ounce.) Dioxin has been linked to cancer, endometriosis, Attention Deficit Disorder (hyperactivity in children), reproductive systems defects in children, chronic fatigue syndrome, immune system deficiency, and rare nerve and blood disorders. A single hamburger (a little less than 1/4 lb, or 100 grams) contains up to 100 picograms of dioxin. That is 300 times as much as the EPA says is "acceptable" for a daily dose for an adult! There are some scientists who say that there is no acceptable dose; they say that any dose can cause toxic effects, because dioxin is a hormone disrupting chemical which changes the functioning of our cells, against which we have no defense. The dioxin comes from microscopic particles of ash from incinerators that have settled on grass and crops eaten by the beef cattle, pigs, and chickens. All farm animals are affected - even herds grown on "all-natural" feed. See dioxin.

2. The huge amount of beef that we consume, in combination with the usual side-orders of other fatty foods (such as french fries) and caffeine and refined sugars (cola beverages) appears to be one of the major causes of obesity in the U.S. and Europe. Beef is "dumped" into our schools by the beef industry and the USDA - beef producers are paid by the government for "surplus" beef (the vast amount they cannot sell) which is subsequently "donated" to school lunch programs, helping our children to get hooked on this unhealthy food.

3. Beef production is the major cause of the destruction of the world's rainforests. The high price of beef encourages ranchers to burn the forest to create new rangelands. The fragile, thin rainforest soil cover is quickly destroyed by grazing in 1-2 years, and the ranchers move on to burn another area, in a never-ending cycle of destruction. Thousands of species of plants and animals have already been destroyed forever, as well as straining the earth's ability to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. At current rates, the rainforests will be totally destroyed in 30-50 years.

4. Beef production is the major cause of "desertification" around the world - the rapid degradation of marginal, low-rainfall soil areas into desert. The constant pounding of the hoofs of cattle disturbs and eventually destroys the delicate root systems which keep the topsoil layer intact. Erosion by winds or storms removes the topsoil, leaving the sand or clay subsoil layer behind.

5. Beef production is a serious social justice issue. Beef cattle and their grazing land take up nearly a quarter of the land mass of the earth, to supply beef to the U.S., Europe, and Japan. About one third of the world's grain harvest is used for feed for cattle instead of food for people. In the U.S., that figure is over 70 percent. It takes 16 pounds of grain to produce a single pound of beef. This, in a world where nearly a billion people lack enough food, is unjust. Beef production for the developed parts of the world is severely limiting the amount of food available for people in the poor and developing world.

6. Beef can harbor a deadly new germ, called e. coli O157:H7. This new germ is now a major cause of serious food poisoning. Beef and dairy cattle can carry the germ with no apparent adverse health effects. The germ, found in cattle feces, has contaminated beef and produce grown with cow manure. So far it has killed dozens of people and sickened thousands. In August, 1997, 25 million pounds of beef were recalled, the largest food recall in the world's history, because of O157:H7 contamination of beef destined to Burger King restaurants. The precautions against the germ - including cooking to 160º F (71º C) - reveals a disgusting side of beef production - there is no way to prevent fecal contamination during slaughter. See O157:H7.

7. The consumption of beef and fast food "restaurants" that promote it have created a new, super-exploitative work environment. High school students and people in poverty have learned an old social order - the sweatshop. The frenetic pace of a McDonalds or Burger King at lunch or dinner time is easily a match for the non-unionized factories and garment shops of the '20s in the U.S. (or most developing countries today). But this is the modern U.S. sweatshop, where we are all members of a "team" working for the common good - minimum wages and windfall profits.

8. Beef consumption has created a self-perpetuating and rapidly-expanding distortion of local economies all over the world. As more McDonalds "restaurants" are established and beef consumption rises, more arable land is consumed for grazing and cattle feed. In developing countries, the local economy changes from one based on local food markets and trade to one based on beef exports, enriching a few wealthy landowners and merchants and impoverishing the rest.

9. The "fast-food" industry giants that promote beef - McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy's - have created and encouraged an artificial, plastic, uniform, standard "restaurant" environment that, because of their powerful advertising media, discourages diversity and local and ethnic culture in restaurants and in food choices. Beef - served as hamburgers - has been the driving force for this shift in how we view food and eating in the U. S.

10. The beef "fast-food" industry, notably McDonalds and Burger King, especially targets children in its marketing. As a result, millions of children (and in many cases, their parents) associate eating at those "restaurants" as a fun, positive, healthful eating experience. Obesity and other afflictions associated with excess animal fat intake and sedentary lifestyle are now affecting young adults and children in increasing numbers.

Too many of us—myself included—are guilty of making insensitive jokes about the demise of Whitney Houston, her frail frame, loss of one of pop's purest voices, and battle with drugs.

But none of us are laughing now.

On Saturday, Houston's publicist confirmed to the Associated Press that the award-winning "I Will Always Love You" singer died. She was 48. The timing of her death, the eve of the Grammys, the biggest music event of the year, makes the horrible news even more tragic. According to CNN, Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. PT at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The Beverly Hilton is the venue for the music industry's most prestigious pre-Grammy party hosted by veteran executive Clive Davis, who discovered Houston.

In an industry flooded with novelty artists, who disappear after scoring one hit, Houston's longevity was unquestioned when she released her debut single, the ballad "You Give Good Love" in February 1985. The song's soothing opening ad-libs displayed her soulful roots while also celebrating her pop sensibilities.

Houston's sound was distinct, and clearly separated her from the funk-laden stylings of the era's other female R&B singers. Plus, she was a model who appeared in "Glamour" and "Cosmopolitan" magazines.

Houston's sound made sense when considering her pedigree. She was the perfect melding of the styles of her mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston; cousin, 1960s pop singer Dionne Warwick; and godmother, queen of soul Aretha Franklin.

Houston's self-titled debut album topped the charts and was certified diamond. Her career was impenetrable throughout the release of several follow up albums, 1987's "Whitney," 1990's "I'm Your Baby Tonight," and 1992's "The Bodyguard" soundtrack.

Houston's fans were concerned when she married R&B bad boy Bobby Brown in 1992, but they professed their happiness.

By the late 1990s, Houston's drug problems began to become tabloid fodder. In a 2002 interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, Houston admitted to her struggles, but maintained that she was doing fine.

The public received its first real glimpse of Houston behind-the-scenes in 2004 when she appeared on Brown's reality series "Being Bobby Brown." The bad publicity move depicted Houston as profane, combative, and delusional, seemingly supporting the behavior of someone on drugs.

Among the saddest indications of Houston's fall was her 2009 comeback album, "I Look To You." While the album received positive reviews, her live performances signaled that the damage to her voice was beyond repair.

Concertgoers stormed out of her 2010 "Nothing But Love World Tour" angry, complaining that Houston was not fit to sing live, and they demanded that their ticket costs be refunded.

On stage, Houston made light of her vocal struggles, and even seemed to be confident when doing so.

But the public scrutiny intensified, and was followed by additional stints in rehab.

While the cause of death has not yet been revealed, one can only wonder whether it was drug-related.

Anyone who remembers Houston's early work and the impact it had on music can only be saddened by her death.

I extended condolences to her family and friends, especially her daughter, Bobbi Kristina.(YAHOO)

Whitney Houston, who found fame as one of pop’s biggest voices, has died. She was 48.

Houston died Saturday afternoon, a representative for the singer told the Associated Press. Houston’s death comes on the eve of the Grammys and on the night of Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammy gala, at which she performed last year and was expected to attend this year.

No cause of death has been announced and law enforcement sources said the singer was found in a hotel room at the Beverly Hilton, where emergency medical personnel were called sometime Saturday.

PHOTOS: Whitney Houston | 1963-2012

The Hilton is the scene for Davis’ annual gala. On Thursday, Houston dropped by the rehearsals to offer vocal tips for Brandy and Monica, who were slated to be one of the evening’s headliners.

Press, including The Times, were in attendance for a junket with the reunited R&B divas and Davis. Though Houston greeted people her with a warm smile, she appeared disheveled in mismatched clothes and hair that was dripping wet with either sweat or water.

The visibly bloated singer displayed erratic behavior throughout the afternoon -- flailing her hands frenetically as she spoke to Brandy and Monica, skipping around the ballroom in a child-like fashion and wandering aimlessly about the lobby. It was mentioned by a Grammy staffer that security personnel received calls of the singer doing handstands by the pool.

After leaving rehearsals, Houston returned to the ballroom -- with her teenage daughter Bobbi Kristina in tow -- as camera crews set up for interviews. The singer smelled of alcohol and cigarettes. A Grammy staffer said that during the interviews with Brandy, Monica and Clive, Houston was dancing just off camera to make the singers and Davis laugh. Grammy personnel expressed concern that she'd be caught on camera, and that reporters would write about her behavior.

Finally her daughter pulled Houston out of the room, and the singer skipped off. In our post of the event, we called Houston's behavior "loose and lively."

“She really loves and supports us both. For me, I went through a lot of very tumultuous moments and she would show up, not just with a phone call but physically when I needed,” Monica said when we asked about Houston coaching them. “That's something that I've carried with me, especially with all that she's been going through over the years herself. She's never turned her back on the people she cared about.”

Later that evening Houston appeared at Hollywood nightclub Tru, for fellow R&B singer Kelly Price’s pre-Grammy party. "Kelly Price & Friends Unplugged: For the Love of R&B" served as both a celebration and a jam session to preserve that genre, which was scaled back from eight categories to four this year.

Houston was billed as one of the evening’s special invited guests but after her appearance earlier it was shocking to see the singer arrive. More put together in her appearance, Houston briefly sang a duet with Price. In what has become her final performance, clips of the two singing a gospel hymn made the rounds because of the singer’s unsteady vocals.

(LATIMES)Singer Whitney Houston's death Saturday at age 48 had few details immediately available, but celebrities on Twitter were quick to respond.

Russell Simmons said he was "deeply saddened by the death of Whitney Houston...may she rest in peace."

"Just heard the news. so crazy," tweeted Justin Bieber. "One of the GREATEST VOICES EVER just passed. RIP Whitney Houston. My prayers go out to her friends and family I am sadden to hear of the passing of Whitney Houston today..."

PHOTOS: Whitney Houston, 1963-2012

Melanie Amaro, who won the first season of "The X Factor" and recently belted out Aretha Franklin's "Respect" for Pepsi, tweeted, "I love u sooo much Whitney Houston :'( u will always be in my heart and my mind an my soul your music made me the girl I am today :("

Houston died Saturday afternoon at the Beverly Hilton hotel, authorities told L.A. Now. Houston was in the Los Angeles area for a musical tribute to music executive Clive Davis and had performed and spoken to reporters earlier in the week. The investigation into her death was ongoing.

"Wow. RIP Whitney Houston. Grew up on her," actress Elizabeth Banks said. "She contributed to the soundtrack of many of my 12-year old sleepover parties."

CNN's Roland Martin, recently in the news over a Super Bowl tweet, noted that "Clive Davis has his annual Grammy party tonight. Something tells me it will be turned into a Whitney Houston memorial service."

In fact, Houston was to have attended that party Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton, L.A. Now reports.

And one touching non-celebrity tweet, from writer Jordan Bach: "May the wings of angels encircle Whitney Houston. Gratitude for her gifts, sorrow for her agony, and prayers for her release at last."

[UPDATED, 6: 30 p.m. Feb. 11: Fellow diva Mariah Carey expressed her condolences over a series of tweets, saying, "Heartbroken and in tears over the shocking death of my friend, the incomparable Ms. Whitney Houston. My heartfelt condolences to Whitney's family and to all her millions of fans throughout the world. She will never be forgotten as one of the greatest voices to ever grace the earth."

Her husband, Nick Cannon, noted, "'To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord' RIP to Whitney Houston a true queen."

And more celebs weighed in:

Nick Lachey: "How tragic to hear about Whitney Houston's passing. Such a shame. She had one of the most iconic voices of my lifetime. #rip"

Wendy Williams: "My family & I are saddened by the loss of a true icon & legend - Whitney Houston. Our thoughts & prayers are w/ the entire Houston family."

Dwyane Wade: "RIP to a legend..Sad day for music lovers...Whitney Houston should be celebrated 4 blessing us with her gifts..#Icon #mother #beautiful"

Tyrese Gibson: "I'm in Houston on the night we lose Whitney Houston .. Tonight's show is dedicated to her legacy"]

The New Yorker, one of the most highbrow magazine you can ever read, posted a profile on Rick Ross titled The Sound Of Success. It's subheading, "Rick Ross's Confidence Game," reveals the gist of the story; Rozay's drug dealing past is questionable, but he's conned listeners into glossing over that fact.

Pop music critic Sasha Frere-Jones writes, "Ross has become a respected rapper by depicting the life style of a boss, or a don, two words that he loves. He never cares to unpack the morals of the drug trade—what he revels in is the security and relief of being fabulously wealthy. This is what his voice sells, the way Sinatra once sold an implacable but supple kind of confidence."

When writing about "Triple Beam Dreams," featuring Nas, from Rozay's Rich Forever mixtape, Frere-Jones writes, "Ross says rather than raps, 'It's time to take it to the other side, the side you gotta watch A&E cable television for, homie, but we live this shit.' It's telling that he invokes watching television before relating an allegedly personal story."

Damn. Those jabs via prose might sting more than any Officer Ricky joke. But the New Yorker isn't saying anything that many other magazines, or rappers, or Freeway Rick Ross, have also maintained.

So the question is, do you really care about how authentic the source material of Rozay's cocaine infused, Lifestyle of the Rich & Famous Hip-Hop music is?

The New Yorker and many other magazines have published the fact that Rick Ross past street history is widely distorted but noone in the country can debate the fact that his music and his business-acumen has took the hip hop industry by storm. His music is in high demand and he's in the top five hottest rap artists in the game the past two years hands down. So whatever the case is with his past his future is very bright.....(THACHILLONE)

I guess schoolteachers in St. Paul Minnesota didn't get the memo that segregation was over. One teacher took it upon himself to ridicule and spit racial slurs at the children for the past few months.

Sixth grade teacher Tim Olmsted is on paid leave after being accused of racial discrimination towards Black kids in his classroom at Heights Community School. The bigoted teacher allegedly told student Latasha Tolbert that her future included her standing on the corner with a sign begging for money.

Tolbert also stated that he toldstudents,

"He told the whole entire class that it is easier for him to teach rich white folks than poor black people."

Meg Kane, an education attorney representing three of the families involved, said none of the kids have been in any trouble at school.

The kids also told the attorney that all of them had to sit at the back of the class and were called "fat, black and stupid" and told such things as: "You will never amount to anything" and "You only have one parent."

Kane is asking that Olmsted be fired. There's no telling what these comments did to these children's self-esteem.

Peep The Video coverage below and comment and let us know what you think of this injustice.

Grammy-winning rap duo Jay-Z and Kanye West lived up to the hype amid reports claiming their "N*ggas in Paris" music video would premiere this week with an explosive visual to the Watch the Throne anthem.

Released at noon, their new music video features clips of past live performances.

Watching double the amount of talent put on a mind-blowing show in the new music video for their hit "N----s in Paris," released on Vevo.com Thursday. The four-minute clip, directed by West himself, is taken from a run of live shows at Los Angeles' Staples Center, giving fans who couldn't score tickets to the sold-out tour the chance to experience what it was like -- if they had been on psychedelic drugs at the time. Appropriately, the video opens with a warning that its special effects could lead to epileptic seizures. And rightfully so, as the two rap icons -- not to mention dancing models, lasers, Paris' Cathedral of Notre Dame and a puma stalking across the stage -- merge and are pulled apart in a kaleidoscope of quick cuts. Blink and you'll miss a one-second cameo from producer Hit Boy. (New York Daily News)

THIS IS THE SECOND OFFICIAL VIDEO OFF OF THE 1.3 MILLION TO DATE "WATCH THE THROWN" ALBUM.................http://www.vevo.com/watch/jay-z-kanye-west/nias-in-paris-explicit/USUV71200139?source=carousel&position=1

Sam Fulwood III explains why Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's disrespectful gesture last week will motivate black voters to support the president in the November election.

With a waggle of her right index finger last Wednesday, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer erased the question of whether black voters will be enthusiastic about going to the polls in support of President Barack Obama. Now, you can count on it.

Gov. Brewer almost guaranteed that large numbers of black voters will turn out on Election Day because they will march to the polls, still angry about Brewer's one-finger salute of the commander-in-chief. Nothing motivates voters like anger. So I envision their collective disgust to register in a wave of ballots, striking back at what so many perceive as the ultimate disrespect of the nation's first black president.

This isn't a bold prediction. Rather, it's more of a reasonable assessment of what I'm hearing and reading about the durability of the anger over the now-infamous tarmac photo. As if the picture didn't convey an outrageous message greater than 1,000 words uttered by a campaign opponent, Gov. Brewer doubled down on the prickly image to say that she poked her finger in the president's face because she f"elt threatened":http://www.thegrio.com/politics/jan-brewer-felt-a-little-threatened-by-president-obama.php by the audacity of that black man dressing her down over comments she wrote about him.

Indeed, I'm willing to be charitable on Gov. Brewer's behalf. For sure, she could never have envisioned how that split-second of her life under an Arizona sun, captured on pixels and set loose into the blogosphere, would reverberate in communities of color across the land. She probably (and accurately) expected it would help with sales of her book among conservatives who hate President Obama, but it also made her a subject of derisions, jokes, and ridicule among progressives in general and the black community in particular. And once a politician becomes the enduring butt of jokes, it's nearly impossible to repair the damage. Just ask Sarah Palin, who remains a force only among the far right.

Clearly, Gov. Brewer didn't know at that fateful moment how so many black Americans react to such gestures. No doubt she didn't know or care that many of us would decipher hidden meanings in her gesture or comments. Maybe she meant no malice. But whatever crossed Gov. Brewer's mind, she came off as disrespectful and clueless to black voters who are proud and protective of the president. And they will make her pay for being ignorant of their concerns and cavalier of their fears.

The White House, however, tried to downplay the entire incident. The president called it "no big deal." But of course he would say that and take the high road, while his political operatives made sure the real message was heard in black barbershops, beauty parlors, and churches. That's where the real political conversations among black voters are vetted, charged, and sustained.

I'm hearing an earful, nearly all of it anger at the perception of unfairness in the way the president (and his wife) are publicly portrayed. The Brewer photo only exacerbated the already-simmering feelings that started with Tea Party activists' racist signs, were perpetuated by South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe 'You Lie' Wilson's outburst, and continued with Wisconsin Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner's rude comments about the callipygian attributes of the First Lady's figure.

Lots of chatter circulates in media accounts of whether President Obama can motivate black voters this November as he did in 2008. He probably can't. The drama and enthusiasm surrounding the election of the nation's first black president can never be replicated. But it won't have to be this time around. Pride has been displaced by anger. Any lingering doubts about commitment and energy for President Obama's re-election among black voters is now moot.

Jan Brewer, thank you very much.

Sam Fulwood III is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and Director of the CAP Leadership Institute. His work with the Center's Progress 2050 project examines the impact of policies on the nation when there will be no clear racial or ethnic majority by the year 2050.

When social media explodes around the question of, “Who was that ridiculous Latina chick in the red dress at the Super Bowl media day,” I pay attention. The chick in question was Marisol González, the reporter for Televisa Deportes.

Wearing a super tight, red mini-dress with her luscious, wavy brown hair flowing down to her waist, the striking reporter was at the media event interviewing players alongside other reporters. But of course, she didn’t look like any of the others.

Latinas Dominate Victoria's Secret

Her outfit was just as sexy as those favored by her competitor, Inez Sainz, from TV Azteca, who last year was at the center of an investigation following a “locker room incident” where some players made jokes and comments about her appearance. I wonder why?

The fact that these two reporters are not only allowed but very likely encouraged to flaunt their great attributes by their employers speaks volumes of the deeply engrained sexism in the Hispanic culture. I know many men who don’t speak a word of Spanish but watch the morning shows and the evening news to see the sexy hostesses and the weather girls.

There’s nothing wrong with leveraging what you’ve got to achieve your goals. Hey, men tilt the scale in their favor using their deep, authoritative voices, taking up more space and even faking self-confidence when necessary.

The problem with übersexy reporters who pose in bikinis and wear skimpy clothing to do their jobs is that you can’t take them seriously and they devalue the profession. When Inez Sainz describes herself on her website as the “World Hottest Sports Reporter” who “is best known because of her sexy looks” and “is hot, talented and has a great smile,” it makes me wonder, why not chose a career as a model, spokesperson for a sun block brand, or even have her own variety show? If her body and her looks are her best attributes, then she’s miscast as a reporter.

Unemployed Mexicana Flight Attendants Pose for Calandar

Why do I care? For two reasons: First, because the journalism profession requires people who take their job seriously. Until the industry stops sanctioning looks over substance there will be limited opportunities for the thousands of brilliant female journalists who work hard to get in front of a camera. And second, because this lack of professional attitude (and attire) impacts all of us. Playing to the sexy Latina stereotype contributes to smart Latinas not being taken as seriously as they should be.

I hope this piece encourages a healthy debate on the subject of what is appropriate dress for different professions. But until some changes are made, it’s only fair that all the Spanish TV networks demand that their male anchors, sportscasters and weathermen show some skin. What about some six packs and a tight pair of black briefs for us ladies to look at? Old-Spice man anyone?

Mariela Dabbah is the CEO of Latinos in College a renowned speaker, media contributor and award-winning author. Her new book Poder de Mujer will be released March 6, 2012 by Penguin

Authorities are examining the health a 10-year-old girl who gave birth in Spain last week.

Social workers inspected the home of the girl, who is Romanian, to determine whether her baby is properly cared for, officials said. They would not say what they found, but the town's mayor called the home “modest.”

The case has shocked Spaniards and created an international sensation – news of the birth went viral on the Internet. But medical professionals have expressed concerns over the young mother’s health, especially since it’s unclear whether she received any medical attention the last few months of her pregnancy.

"A very comprehensive approach to her care needs to be instituted early in her pregnancy," said Dr. Manny Alvarez, a gynecologist who is managing editor of foxnewshealth.com.

The girl’s age places her at significant risk, he said. Officials say she had not seen a doctor before showing up at a hospital last week.

“This is a very high-risk pregnancy because the anatomy of a 10-year-old is not mature,” Alvarez said. “They are at higher risk of hypertension and pelvic trauma and tend to end up having caesarean deliveries because their vaginal anatomy is so immature.”

Leading daily El Pais and other Spanish news media said prosecutors had announced they would investigate whether the parents might be guilty of any negligence if the 10-year-old child was not registered for school or had not received sufficient pre-natal care.

The girl's mother told reporters earlier this week that she's delighted to have a new granddaughter and doesn't understand the fuss the birth has caused. She said the baby's father is a 13-year-old boy who is still in Romania.

She also said since they are Romanian Gypsies, or Roma, it is their custom to marry very young.Arranged "marriages" for girls reaching puberty are relatively common among Roma, who make up about 1.5 million of Romania's 22 million people. Those marriages are not recognized by the state, which requires girls to be 16 and have parental consent before they can marry.

Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan, a leading high-risk obstetrician, said this case was not about teen pregnancy, it’s about a pre-teen whose body is not yet built to carry a child.

"Her chest is not extensively developed for breast tissue, her bones aren't quite fused, and once you expose a child this young to high amounts of progesterone and especially estrogen, there is (a possibility) that it could halt her growth," Al-khan said.

There are also psychological issues associated with pre-teen pregnancy because a 10-year-old cannot be mentally ready to give birth, Al-Khan said.

"This is heart-wrenching because you have a kid whose mental capacities can’t possibly wrap themselves around what it means to be a mother," agreed Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and Fox News contributor. "There are so many psychological minefields in store for her. Feelings of guilt, feelings of wanting to nurture another human being, and yet this is all very, very complex and intense when she looks to her own family to essentially support, and if you will, father her child."

The youngest documented case of a child pregnancy was in 1939 in Lima, Peru, Al-Khan said. Lina Medina was six years old when she became pregnant and gave birth to a baby.

A large number of deadly Burmese pythons have invaded the Florida Everglades and wrecked havoc on the region's raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals.

Scientists fear that the deadly snakes, many of which were former house pets turned loose by their owners when they got too big, could disrupt the food chain and upset the Everglades' environmental balance in ways difficult to predict.

A study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that sightings of medium-size mammals are down dramatically — as much as 99 percent, in some cases — in areas where pythons and other large, non-native constrictor snakes are known to be lurking.

"The effects of declining mammal populations on the overall Everglades ecosystem, which extends well beyond the national park boundaries, are likely profound," said John Willson, a research scientist at Virginia Tech University and co-author of the study.

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Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons, which are native to Southeast Asia, are believed to be living in the Everglades, where they thrive in the warm, humid climate. While many were apparently released by their owners, others may have escaped from pet shops during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and have been reproducing ever since.

Burmese pythons can grow to be 26 feet long and more than 200 pounds, and they have been known to swallow animals as large as alligators. They and other constrictor snakes kill their prey by coiling around it and suffocating it.

The National Park Service has counted 1,825 Burmese pythons that have been caught in and around Everglades National Park since 2000. Among the largest so far was a 156-pound, 16.4-foot one captured earlier this month.

For the study, researchers drove 39,000 miles along Everglades-area roads from 2003 through 2011, counting wildlife spotted along the way and comparing the results with surveys conducted on the same routes in 1996 and 1997.

The researchers found staggering declines in animal sightings: a drop of 99.3 percent among raccoons, 98.9 percent for opossums, 94.1 percent for white-tailed deer and 87.5 percent for bobcats. Along roads where python populations are believed to be smaller, declines were lower but still notable.

Rabbits and foxes, which were commonly spotted in 1996 and 1997, were not seen at all in the later counts. Researchers noted slight increases in coyotes, Florida panthers, rodents and other mammals, but discounted that finding because so few were spotted overall.

Scientists Aim to Map and Save Endangered Habitats

"The magnitude of these declines underscores the apparent incredible density of pythons in Everglades National Park," said Michael Dorcas, a professor at Davidson College in North Carolina and lead author of the study.

Although scientists cannot definitively say the pythons are killing off the mammals, the snakes are the prime suspect. The increase in pythons coincides with the mammals' decrease, and the decline appears to grow in magnitude with the size of the snakes' population in an area. A single disease appears unlikely to be the cause since several species were affected.

The report says the effect on the overall ecosystem is hard to predict. Declines among bobcats and foxes, which eat rabbits, could be linked to pythons' feasting on rabbits. On the flip side, declines among raccoons, which eat eggs, may help some turtles, crocodiles and birds.

Scientists point with concern to what happened in Guam, where the invasive brown tree snake has killed off birds, bats and lizards that pollinated trees and flowers and dispersed seeds. That has led to declines in native trees, fish-eating birds and certain plants.

In 2010, Florida banned private ownership of Burmese pythons. Earlier this month, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a federal ban on the import of Burmese pythons and three other snakes.

Salazar said Monday that the study shows why such restrictions were needed.

"This study paints a stark picture of the real damage that Burmese pythons are causing to native wildlife and the Florida economy," he said.

This year, on the first day of Black History Month, Americans, and the African-American community in particular, mourn the loss of Don Cornelius, a media and music pioneer who created Soul Train, the first national platform to expose our musical lifestyle and history.

Since 1971, Cornelius, whose name is synonymous with the show, conducted the express Train into our homes and hearts, shaping the scope and setting the trend of what was hip and cool.

Cornelius' impact was monumental. He was our Dick Clark and Soul Train was our American Bandstand. We tuned in each week to see our favorite recording stars, the latest fashion, dance moves, and hairstyles.

WATCH 'TODAY SHOW' COVERAGE OF THE DEATH OF DON CORNELIUS:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economyAs an indication of the influence and importance of Soul Train, every last one of our celebrity icons -- from Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Richard Pryor, James Brown, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Public Enemy to Mary J. Blige, have appeared as a guest on the "hippest trip in America" at some point in their career.

More 40 years after its debut, there's not a black wedding reception, family reunion, block party, or backyard barbeque that doesn't feature the famous "Soul Train line" as a guest of honor.

I can speak on behalf of all my African-American peers and proudly say that we were raised on Soul Train. When Cornelius retired as host in 1993 and passed the microphone to other guest emcees like Shemar Moore, the show didn't have the same flavor, style, and spirit that we had all fallen in love with over the years.

R&B crooner and former MCA and Jive recording artist, Marc Dorsey, who was a friend of Cornelius that appeared twice as a guest on the show says, "I would like to extend my prayers to the family of the untimely passing of a great leader in black culture; not only in music, but the black experience."

In 1996, while I was a marketing director at MCA Records, we released a Soul Train CD box set compilation in recognition of the show's 25th anniversary. In an attempt to heighten our promotional efforts and pay homage to Cornelius' program, I orchestrated a contest, in which local and regional music video outlets around the country would re-create the Soul Train dance line on their respective shows. The producer who submitted the best reenactment; would win an all expense paid trip to Los Angeles to attend the annual "Soul Train Music Awards."

When I presented my proposal to Cornelius' production company for approval, I was expecting a return call from one of his associates. As I answered the phone, I knew instantly, who the distinct, deep voice on the other end of the line belonged to. Both nerves and excitement overwhelmed me as I thought, "wow! Don Cornelius calling me?!"

There was no small talk or chit-chat. He was focused and made his point immediately. I felt put on the spot, like a Soul Train scramble board contestant as he said, "I like your idea, brother. Let's move forward with the promotion. Thanks for thinking of me, brother."

I answered: "thanks, Mr. Cornelius. I spent every Saturday morning of my life watching your show, Mr. Cornelius. This is truly an honor, Mr. Cornelius."

"You're welcome, brother. And one last thing," he finally joked, but still serious sounding and direct, "Don't call me, Mr. Cornelius."

On this sad day, we all offer a variation of the famous tagline that he would end every episode of Soul Train with, and which we came to love each and every week: to Don Cornelius: "love, rest in peace, and soul."

Long before MTV thought that Black music was cool (or profitable), Don Cornelius made it a nationally televised, weekly must-see event.

It takes being a student of history or simply being alive in 1971, the year Cornelius introduced “Soul Train” to the American television audience, to fully appreciate how he turned the perception that Black culture could not survive mainstream market on its head. And the times were not in his favor.

Malcolm X was shot and killed in 1965. Five months later, the Watts Riots erupted due to suppressed anger from African Americans toward law enforcement. In 1967, five days of rioting claimed the lives of 43 people in Detroit, accelerating an already white exodus from the predominately Black city. That same year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Virginia’s anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional. (Cornelius’ second ex-wife is white.) And let’s not forget that Dr. Martin L. King Jr. was killed in 1968.

Throughout the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement forced America to recognize that Blacks were not treated as equal citizens under the law, and they demanded sweeping federal legislation to correct it.

Now enters this dark-skin, baritone-voiced Negro telling white executives that they should invest in a Black music television show. Dick Clarke‘s “American Bandstand” was the television dance show that most Americans wiggled their hips to prior to “Soul Train.” And as Kenneth Gamble of the once-renowned Philadelphia International Records label told the L.A. Times recently, there certainly weren’t many Black folks on Clarke’s show leading any of the wiggling.

“‘Bandstand’ was a dance show, but it basically concentrated on Caucasian people. While they had a few Black artists on from time to time, “Soul Train” was something that the African-American community embraced first — and it’s always good to see African-American people on TV — but then it became a national and an international phenomenon.”

NPR correspondent Karen Grigsby recalls an interview she had with Cornelius, where he discussed advertisers’ initial trepidation.

“[Cornelius] told me that when I interviewed him on the celebration of the 40th anniversary, people said, ‘Oh, nobody’s going to buy this,’” Grigsby said. ‘There’s not going to be any advertisers.’ So he lined up the advertisers and, after the first couple of shows, people were like, ‘Wow.’”

Eventually, Cornelius convinced enough power players to invest in “Soul Train” and started the show in Chicago. It moved to Los Angeles soon after. Sears and Chicago-based cosmetic company Johnson Products were Soul Train’s first major advertisers.

Cornelius, in his own way, was an activist. But not in the traditional sense. He didn’t picket or march out his frustration toward the system. He relied on his silky voice, impeccably tailored attire, and laid-back disposition to work within it instead.

Like the Black cultural ambassadors before him who successful gained acceptance from White mainstream audiences (Sidney Poitier, Jackie Robinson, Bill Cosby), Cornelius could not appear as an “angry, Black man” down-trodden by “the White man.”

Shayne Lee, a sociologist, told CNN that Cornelius’ style allowed “Soul Train” to slowly make its way into American mainstream pop culture.

“He was an ambassador, the pope of soul,” Lee said. “For a lot of suburban Whites living in segregated America, this was their first exposure to this exciting new world of movement and energy. He made Black culture more accessible.”

In other words, Cornelius made Black culture “less threatening.”

His efforts to achieve this clean-cut identity eventually clashed with his changing audience and their evolving musical tastes. Cornelius did not like hip-hop at first and was very reluctant to welcome rappers on his program, but his business acumen convinced his ideological bias to open his doors to the likes of Run-DMC, Public Enemy, and Eric B and Rakim.

(These acts were not exactly “hard-core”)

But what is uniquely special about “Soul Train” is that while Cornelius catered to Black audiences, White dancers regularly appeared on his show. Even Elton John and David Bowie (you can’t get any whiter than these two) performed on his shows to expand their reach to Black audiences. If there ever was a musical integrationist, Cornelius was it. Not only did he make Black hip to mainstream White America, he convinced the business world that it was profitable to invest in it.

Black people have always known that we have that God-given gift known as “soul.” Don Cornelius simply made sure the rest of America (and the world) knew it too.

The tale of American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their epic transcontinental journey has long been a fixture in history books. A little known fact behind the pair’s adventure was that a Black slave helped the men bridge cultural gaps between themselves and American Indian they encountered along the way.

SEE ALSO: Is “The Help” Racist?

Terra Hall of Fox4 Kansas City recently reported that a slave named York helped Lewis and Clark gain access with American Indians during their trudge through the Midwest. American Indians saw York’s dark skin as a sign of strength and power.

“He’s [York] the first known African American known to make it all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back. So he’s one of the greats as far as the explorers are concerned,” said Richard Edwards of the National Frontier Trials Museum in Independence, Mo.

For the entire month of February, Edwards will be sharing tales of York and other Black Americans who were instrumental in shaping America’s place in history.

NAIROBI, Kenya— President Barack Obama’s 91-year-old step-grandmother suffered bruises and shock after a car she was traveling in rolled over, a relative and a hospital official said Monday.

The relative said Sarah Obama was traveling to her home in the village of Kogelo, in western Kenya, when the accident happened Saturday night.

He said the vehicle lost control and rolled as the driver attempted to overtake a truck near the Kisumu airport. The relative asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak for the family.

Najim Mawji, the chief operating officer of the Agha Khan hospital in Kisumu, said doctors discharged her Saturday night after she had gone through several tests.

Mawji said she coped well with the shock that came from the accident.

Sarah Obama is the second wife of Obama’s paternal grandfather. Obama referred to her as “Granny” in his memoir, “Dreams from My Father,” and described meeting her during his 1988 trip to his father’s homeland and their awkwardness as they struggled to communicate.

Barack Obama has visited his Kenyan relatives three times in Kogelo, and his step-grandmother has gone to the U.S. at least three times. In a 2008 interview she said they are close, although they have to speak through an interpreter.

Kenya has a special regard for President Obama, the son of a Kenyan economist and an American anthropologist. Children, shops and dozens of minibuses — which carry names in Kenya — are named after the president.

On January 13th the Atlanta Jewish Times featured a column by its owner-publisher suggesting that Israel might someday need to “order a hit” on the president of the United States.

In the column, publisher Andrew Adler describes a scenario in which Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu would need to “give the go-ahead for U.S. based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel.”

The purpose? So that the vice president could then take office and dictate U.S. policies that would help the Jewish state “obliterate its enemies.”

Adler writes that it is highly likely that the idea “has been discussed in Israel’s most inner circles.”

Numerous Jewish leaders quickly condemned Adler, who has now apologized for the column, resigned, and there are some reports that he plans to put the newspaper up for sale. An Israeli columnist noted that the hatred being stirred up against Obama is similar to conditions in Israel that led to the murder of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist.

Many of those criticizing Adler claim that he had defamed Israel by suggesting that it would ever do such a thing. Abe Foxman, head of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League (ADL) proclaimed: “There is absolutely no excuse, no justification, no rationalization for this kind of rhetoric. It doesn’t even belong in fiction.”

In reality, however, Adler’s expectation that Israel’s inner circles have explored such a course of action, and would be willing to undertake it, may be entirely accurate. The fact is that Israel has killed and plotted to assassinate people throughout the world; a number have been Americans. One alleged plot was chillingly similar to Adler’s suggestion.

Secret Service warned of Israeli assassination plans

There is evidence that in 1991 an Israeli undercover team planned to assassinate a U.S. President. The intended victim was George Herbert Walker Bush.

The first person to write of the plot was a former 11-term Republican Congressman from Illinois, Paul Findley. In a 1992 article in the Washington Report for Middle East Affairs, Findley described the alleged scheme and how it was revealed.

Findley writes that the U.S. Secret Service had received a warning that elements of Israel’s spy agency might target Bush when he went to Madrid for the opening day of the peace conference to be held that year.

According to Findley, a former Mossad agent named Victor Ostrovsky who had written a book exposing Israel’s spy agency told a group of Canadian parliamentarians that he had received secret intelligence suggesting that the “the Mossad's hatred of Bush – and support for Vice President Dan Quayle – might lead to an attempt on the president's life.”

Israel considered Quayle much closer to Israel than Bush. Bush had particularly angered Israel by attempting to pressure Israel into ending its illegal settlement expansion on confiscated Palestinian land by withholding loan guarantees until Israel ended this practice.

Findley writes that Ostrovsky’s statements were relayed to Findley’s friend and former colleague Paul “Pete” McCloskey, a prominent former Republican Congressman from California who had recently been named by Bush to the National and Community Service Commission.

McCloskey, a decorated Marine veteran and graduate of Stanford law school who had at one time been considered a presidential contender, flew to Ottawa to debrief Ostrovsky in person and evaluate his information.

Findley reports that Ostrovsky told McCloskey that the Mossad wanted "to do everything possible to preserve a state of war between Israel and its neighbors, assassinating President Bush, if necessary." Ostrovsky said that a PR campaign was already underway in both Israel and the United States to "prepare public acceptance of Dan Quayle as president."

Convinced that Ostrovsky was legitimate and his information significant, McCloskey jumped on the next flight to Washington, where he reported Ostrovsky’s intelligence to the Secret Service and State Department.

The apparent plot never went forward, perhaps because Ostrovsky and McCloskey had given it away.

Ostrovsky gave more details about the plot two years later in his 1994 book, “The Other Side of Deception: A Rogue Agent Exposes the Mossad's Secret Agenda,” published by HarperCollins.

In the book Ostrovsky writes that an extremist group within Mossad was responsible for the plan. He says they kept the plan secret from then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, though they believed that Shamir would have ordered such a hit himself if he hadn’t been constrained by politics. In the lead-up to Israel’s 1948 founding war, Shamir had headed up a terrorist group known for its assassinations.

In his review of Ostrovsky’s book, Ambassador Andrew Killgore, a retired career foreign service officer and publisher of the Washington Report, called the book an “insider's probing exposé of some Middle East realities that have been hidden too long from all but Israeli eyes.”

Ostrovsky writes that the Israelis planned a “false flag” operation in which they would pin the assassination on Palestinians. They kidnapped three Palestinian militants from Beirut who were to be the scapegoats, took them to Israel's Negev desert, and held them incommunicado.

“Meanwhile,” Killgore writes, “Mossad-generated threats on the president's life, seemingly from Palestinians, were leaked. These were designed to throw suspicion on the organization of rogue Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal. Names and descriptions of the three terrorists were leaked to Spanish police so that, if the plot was successful, blame would automatically fall on them.”

Ostrovsky reports that after the assassination plot was eventually cancelled, the three Palestinian prisoners were “terminated.”

Targeting Americans

If the plot had gone forward, this would not have been the first time that Israel targeted Americans for death. Nor would it be the first false flag operation.

◦In 1954 the Mossad planned to firebomb American installations, libraries, and other gathering places in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood was to be blamed for the attacks, thus causing American animosity toward Egypt. An accidental early detonation of one of the devices caused the plot, known as the Lavon Affair, to unravel before it could kill or mutilate the intended Americans.

◦In 1967 Israeli air and sea forces perpetrated an almost two-hour assault in which they tried to sink a US Navy ship with a crew of 294. While the attack failed to sink the ship, it succeeded in killing 34 Americans and injuring 174. Some analysts have conjectured that this was also a false-flag operation; it is highly likely that Egypt would have been blamed for the attack if the ship had gone down.

◦In 1973 Israeli fighter pilots were ordered to shoot down an unarmed U.S. reconnaissance plane (at the time the U.S. was delivering massive weaponry to Israel to prevent it from losing the “Yom Kippur” war with Egypt and Syria). While the Israelis were unable to reach the altitude of the U.S. plane, they did manage that same year to shoot down a civilian Libyan airliner that had strayed over Israeli territory, killing 104 men, women, and children. One was an American.

◦In 1990 a Canadian-American scientist and father of seven, Gerald Bull, was assassinated in Belgium. All indications are that it was an Israeli Mossad hit team that drilled five bullets into the back of his head and neck. (Israel has assassinated a number of scientists of various nationalities. The most recent is a 32-year-old Iranian father with a young son.)

◦In 2003 it came out that Israeli leaders had officially decided to undertake assassination operations on U.S. soil. An FBI spokesman, queried about the Israeli plans, said only: "This is a policy matter. We only enforce federal laws."

◦In recent years a growing number of American peace activists have been intentionally killed, maimed, and injured by Israeli forces, including 23-year-old Rachel Corrie, 21-year-old Brian Avery, 37-year-old Tristan Anderson, 21-year-old Emily Henoschowitz, and 21-year-old Furkan Dogan.All of this has been minimally reported in the U.S. press. While major news media from England to Israel to Australia covered the Jewish Times’ apparent endorsement of a possible Israeli assassination of a U.S. President, the scandal has been largely missing from U.S. media. Even Atlanta’s AP bureau inexplicably initially decided not to write a report on it, only finally sending out a story many days later.

Such news omissions concerning Israeli partisans are not rare. In 2004 a fanatic Israel loyalist wrote a letter saying that he was going to burn down Presbyterian churches while worshippers were inside (he was furious at the Presbyterian Church’s decision to divest from companies profiting from the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land). This grisly threat also received minimal media play.

Despite Israeli violence against Americans (even while American taxpayers have given Israel far more of our tax money than to any other nation) American presidential candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, continue to vie over who is most devoted to Israel.

It is ironic that Adler considers Obama so bad for Israel, given that Israeli analysts have rated him second only to Mitt Romney in his fidelity to Israel. And Obama has now released a seven-minute video that may catapult our first African-American president into first place in pandering to an apartheid nation.

But perhaps he’ll be safe from assassins.

[This article was originally published by Antiwar.com, Jan. 25, 2012.]

While the Wikipedia entry appeared on the day it was accessed to contain an accurate list, it is important to remember that anyone can edit Wikipedia at any moment and inaccurate changes can be made. Israeli partisans have consistently attempted to promote an Israeli agenda on the Internet. See http://www.councilforthenationalinterest.org/news/israellobby/item/1300-israeli-students-to-get-$2000-to-spread-state-propaganda-on-facebook and http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142374 and http://www.ifamericansknew.org/media/wikip.html

MacIntyre, Donald. "Israel's Forgotten Hero: The Assassination of Count Bernadotte - and the Death of Peace." The Independent [London] 18 Sept. 2008. Print. Online at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israels-forgotten-hero-the-assassination-of-count-bernadotte--and-the-death-of-peace-934094.html

Killgore, Andrew. "The Other Side of Deception: A Rogue Agent Exposes the Mossad's Secret Agenda." Washington Report on Middle East Affairs April-May (1995): 58-81. Print. Online at http://www.wrmea.com/component/content/article/161-1995-april-may/7775-the-other-side-of-deception-a-rogue-agent-exposes-the-mossads-secret-agenda.html

Moorer, Admiral Thomas H., General Raymond G. Davis, Rear Admiral Merlin Staring, and Ambassador James Akins. "Findings of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty, the Recall of Military Rescue Support Aircraft While the Ship Was Under Attack, and the Subsequent Cover-up by the United States Government." Congressional Record October 11 (2004): E1886-1889. Print. Online at http://ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/ul-commfindings.html

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan told students and faculty at Chicago State University January 25 that they have to “break free” from the educational system that has been set up by their oppressors to maintain control.

“The Architects of our education never intended for us to escape the circle of activity that takes us out from under their control, so if we are still governed by the controlling systems of our former slave masters, then we yet have to break free, so Jesus said ‘you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free,’” said Minister Farrakhan as he delivered much needed guidance and straight talk to over 1,000 at the Jacoby Dickens center. The current student enrollment at CSU is a little over 7,000.

The Minister commanded audience attention for nearly two hours including a question and answer period. He said education should be used to solve the problems of humanity, not to keep the systems of the oppressor in power. With all the educated people within the Black community, others are still controlling the economics and educational systems within Black communities.

“When we leave here tonight, you will know what to do with your life and how you can develop the gift that God has already placed in you—cultivate that gift and use it for the liberation not only of our people, but all of humanity.”

Hosted by the Chicago State University African-American Studies Program and the African-American Male Resource Center, the Minister spoke on the topic: “Education: Black People and the Future.”

“He who gives you the diameter of your knowledge prescribes the circumference of your activity,” said Min. Farrakhan. “The former slave master is the architect of your education. If a man will not treat you right, what will make you think he will teach you right?” he asked.

“If we as a people are non-productive, then somebody prescribed the diameter of your knowledge,” he said. “If you got a good education, why have we not produced what we need as a people?” he asked.

“How much control do you have over where you live and if not, why not if you are educated? If you are educated, what are you producing that proves you are an educated person? If you’re not productive, you’re not educated.”

Creating new rulers

Minister Farrakhan said “government is formed to meet the requirements of the growth of the people” and educators should use the example of Jesus, who was a “loving dictator.” His followers were called “disciples.” They were disciplined according to the teachings of Jesus, however, his desire was for them to grow in knowledge telling them, “Greater works than I do, shall you do.”

“If Jesus is the Messiah and the Messiah is God-incarnate, then Jesus was not trying to make some ignorant stupid worshippers, Jesus was trying to make people into himself, so that there would be a nation of gods on our planet!” said the Minister. “He who is the architect of your liberation becomes your teacher and your guide to help you understand your self-interests then he can go away and you can take it from there.”

Minister Farrakhan used the example of Jesus throughout the evening to demonstrate that a good teacher or professor should teach the students to use what is being taught as a base, inspiring them to be critical thinkers with the desire to build upon and even go beyond what they are being taught.

“These young people that are gathered here—some with their parents and also with professors—our young people represent the strongest and finest generation of Black people that have ever been born in this wilderness of America. They are so different and so strong until now there’s a gap between our young people and their parents, our young people and their elders.”

“There’s a divine reason for that. The elders must understand that we are the product of mis-education, for if we were properly educated, we wouldn’t be as a people in the condition that we are in,” said the Minister. “Our condition is a testimony against our educational pursuits.”

The Muslim leader said some of Jesus’ disciples failed to see the value of the youth, and the same thing is happening today. Some religious leaders ignore the youth because they may not have money to tithe, but they are very valuable in the sight of God. He reminded the audience of Jesus’ words in the Bible: “Suffer the little children to come unto me, for of such is the Kingdom of God.”

“The minds of your babies have gone beyond the reach of your knowledge,” said Min. Farrakhan. “You don’t have anything to deal with that kind of mind, and that’s why they are offering our babies Ritalin drugs because they cannot control the babies! There’s nothing wrong with your children there’s something wrong with the education and the so-called educators!”

Outsiders in control

The Minister said during his recent travels to the Caribbean, he discovered that despite the fertile soil there, island nations import food from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. It is for this reason Black people worldwide are the leading suffers of diabetes, high blood pressure and certain cancers.

“When somebody else is producing your food, and you are dumb enough to eat from your enemy, and he makes it look good he makes it taste good and your taste buds are deceiving you into thinking that it is good,” said the Minister. “What are you eating? Who is feeding you?”

“With all this education we’re a crippled people,” he lamented.

The social aspects of college life are well known: the parties, alcohol and drug use along with the mingling of the sexes, but the real purpose of education is sometimes an afterthought. Many parents worry about these factors when preparing to send their children off to college.

Minister Farrakhan said real education should properly prepare a students for future self-sufficiency by teaching them critical thinking, the science of farming, science of life, and the importance of the earth. Real education makes real men out of the young male students, not men who use women as sexual playthings.

“That is very bad when you have a college education and you disrespect your female, and you look at her as something only for pleasure and after you have pleasure, you discard her, but yet she’s pregnant with your seed and you walk away from her as though she means nothing to you,” said the Minister. “How can you be educated and don’t know how to respect your woman? How can you say you are educated and don’t know how to protect your female. Real college teaching makes a man out of you! Real professors make you a man that is not going to play with a woman!”

Members of fraternities, sororities and the Five Percent Nation heard the Minister’s message Jan. 25. Photo: Timothy 6X To futher illustrate the point, the Minister asked if there were any members of the Five Percent Nation in the audience and a few stood up. The Minister pointed out the Five Percenters refer to the females connected to them as “Earths.”

“If the woman is your earth then she’s everything!” said the Minister. “When you call her your earth you’re saying that everything you need to make life what life should be is right sitting up in a woman that we are mistreating. So when you call her earth then honor and respect her as earth and don’t spit on the earth, don’t mistreat the earth, take care of the earth and the earth will take care of you and me.”

A sense of urgency

Prior to Minister Farrakhan’s message, he toured the the Aquaponics Department a few blocks away from where he was to deliver his message. The facility has been open since the summer of 2010. They are raising tilapia fish in a controlled continuously circulating water system, plants are grown hydroponically and the emphasis is on establishing urban gardening programs. This would solve the problem of “food deserts” that exist where Blacks live on the city’s South and West sides.

Minister Farrakhan toured the Aquaponics facility at Chicago State University prior to his lecture Jan. 25. He is shown shaking hands with the facility’s director Emmanuel Pratt. Look for more coverage of Chicago State University’s urban gardening initiative and an interview with Mr. Pratt in future editions of The Final Call Photos: Timothy 6X Students, faculty, and the community should support CSU’s president Dr. Wayne Watson because he is thinking “outside the box” as demonstrated by the Aquaponics program and other enlightening and productive initiatives on the campus, said Min. Farrakhan.

Dr. Kelly Harris, director of CSU’s African-American studies department told the audience they have a responsibility to understand the true value of education, not just focus on the material benefits.

“We take that one purpose of increasing our bank account as the reason for getting an education but generally, we lose sight of the purpose for education,” said Dr. Harris. “When we talk about education, we need to transform our condition. This is really the value of education,” he added.

He went on to say some of his colleagues were upset and uncomfortable with Min. Farrakhan’s appearance on campus, however, the Minister has the solutions needed to solve problems plaguing society.

“How can anybody be comfortable with the state of Black America?” asked Dr. Harris. “Nobody in here should be comfortable. We all need a sense of urgency about the problems, we all need to figure out a way to deal with this education problem and understanding what education is.”

As an African American studies professor, Dr. Harris said he would be doing a disservice to his students if he taught about prominent Black leaders, and failed to include Min. Farrakhan.

“If I’m teaching about Black leadership in America and I leave out Minister Farrakhan, whether I agree with him or not, if I leave out Minister Farrakhan, that tells you something about my education,” Dr. Harris told the crowd. “I might be educated, but if you are educated and you leave out Minister Farrakhan, you’re just an educated fool.”

Following Minister Farrakhan’s message, Dr. Harris told The Final Call he was very pleased.

“It was a great turnout, it was a powerful message, it was a timely message and a message that will give people a charge. It’s not just talking to people, it’s giving people a charge to do something,” said Dr. Harris.

“Minister Farrakhan brought to them tonight knowledge, wisdom, understanding and a vision, because they represent the future leaders of tomorrow,” said Student Minister Ishmael R. Muhammad, Min. Farrakhan’s assistant at Mosque Maryam, the international headquarters of the Nation of Islam. “Chicago State University received a blessing and the Minister also received a blessing. It was a double blessing because as you can see, the Minister enjoys and loves not only teaching, but he loves young people,” he added.

“Minister Farrakhan’s primary focus was looking at education and those tenets of education that can be the foundation for young men and young ladies as they go through a university. He had an educational message for the students and without a doubt, I know the students and the faculty greatly appreciated it,” said Dr. Watson.

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Tha Chill-One & Young Ream

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Street Wize UnKutt was first formed and created September 2010, the brainchild and viral concept of Chill Muhammad a.k.a. THA CHILL ONE.... The blog was created to give a raw,unfiltered,undiluted,raw and unkutt brand of reality,conscious, and entertainment reporting. I like to think of it as Edutainment, Education through Entertainment WE KEEPS IT 100!!!!!BEWARE!!!YOU HAVE NOW ENTERED THE TOTAL "NO SPIN ZONE"!!!